The present invention, generally, relates to computer networks and, more particularly, to methods, systems and computer program products for managing such computer networks.
Object-oriented models may be used to describe management information in a network/enterprise environment. Such object-oriented information models, for example, the Common Information Model (CIM) by Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) and the NetIQ Common Information Model (IQCIM) by NetIQ Corporation, have become increasingly more critical in enabling different management products from different vendors to exchange semantically rich management information via computer networks. CIM is discussed at world wide web address wbemsolutions.com/tutorials/CIM/.
Object-oriented common information models, such as CIM and IQCIM, represent managed resources and their aggregate functions/services as object classes and associations. Object classes correspond to “things,” i.e., logical and/or physical entities, which have associated properties and functions (methods). Associations describe logical relationships among objects.
Web services are distributed application components that are configured to interoperate over the Internet using message passing. Typically, web services are self-contained and self-describing. For example, a web service may be a reusable application component that offers operations, such as currency conversion, weather reports or language translation. These components may be used by applications, which pass requests to the web service to perform its particular operation(s). Web services may also be used to exchange data between different applications and different platforms.
The Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) is a language based on eXtensible Markup Language (XML) that is used to describe how to communicate with web services. WSDL defines services as collections of network endpoints, or ports. A WSDL document is an XML document that describes a web service, including the web service ports and messages. A port is defined by associating a network address with a reusable binding, and a collection of ports define a service. Messages are abstract descriptions of the data being exchanged, and port types are abstract collections of supported operations. The concrete protocol and data format specifications for a particular port type constitutes a reusable binding, where the messages and operations are then bound to a concrete network protocol and message format. In this way, WSDL describes the public interface to the web service.
WSDL is typically used in combination with SOAP (Service Oriented Architecture Protocol) and XML schema to provide web services. A client program connecting to a web service can read the web service's WSDL file to determine what functions are available. Any special data types are embedded in the WSDL file in the form of XML schema. The client can then use SOAP to actually call one of the functions listed in the WSDL file.
Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) refers to Web-based registries that may be used to discover WSDL files for web services. The data in the registry can be categorized to aid discovery. SOAP calls to a UDDI registry can be used to discover information about registered web services.